A Loss for Words

Boston Globe ^ | 2/8/2004 | By John Powers

[Russian Sage]

Americans may mean what they say, but they can't always summon the language to say what they mean.

I don't know how many times I've heard it, or read it, even in this newspaper: "The proof is in the pudding." "No, it isn't," I want to scream. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." Cervantes wrote that four centuries ago. And don't get me started about having your cake and eating it, too. You have to have your cake in order to eat it. The trick is to eat it and still have it.

[Russian Sage]

From Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

Main Entry: tran·spire Pronunciation: tran(t)-'spIr Function: verb Inflected Form(s): tran·spired; tran·spir·ing Etymology: Middle French transpirer, from Latin trans- + spirare to breathe transitive senses : to pass off or give passage to (a fluid) through pores or interstices; especially : to excrete (as water) in the form of a vapor through a living membrane (as the skin) intransitive senses 1 : to give off vaporous material; specifically : to give off or exude watery vapor especially from the surfaces of leaves 2 : to pass in the form of a vapor from a living body 3 a : to be revealed : come to light b : to become known or apparent : DEVELOP 4 : to take place : GO ON, OCCUR usage Sense 4 of transpire is the frequent whipping boy of those who suppose sense 3 to be the only meaning of the word. Sense 4 appears to have developed in the late 18th century; it was well enough known to have been used by Abigail Adams in a letter to her husband in 1775 <there is nothing new transpired since I wrote you last -- Abigail Adams>. Noah Webster recognized the new sense in his dictionary of 1828. Transpire was evidently a popular word with 19th century journalists; sense 4 turns up in such pretentiously worded statements as "The police drill will transpire under shelter to-day in consequence of the moist atmosphere prevailing." Around 1870 the sense began to be attacked as a misuse on the grounds of etymology, and modern critics echo the damnation of 1870. Sense 4 has been in existence for about two centuries; it is firmly established as standard; it occurs now primarily in serious prose, not the ostentatiously flamboyant prose typical of 19th century journalism.

[SedVictaCatoni]

I don't know how many times I've heard it, or read it, even in this newspaper: "The proof is in the pudding." "No, it isn't," I want to scream. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

God, this drives me nuts. Glad to see that somebody else remembers, anyway.

What people have forgotten is that "prove" properly means "to test". Hence military proving grounds, where weapons are tested. So the proof of the pudding is in the eating, because it's only by eating the pudding that you can test it.

[Old Professer]

Leave it up to a pretentious peasant to sink to new heights.

[Old Professer]

And fix means to make fast which means to put tightly in place no matter how long it takes or whether it is broken in the first place.

[kuma]

"Otherwise, we'll find ourselves in Wonderland, debating what the meaning of "is" is with the Caterpillar."

Where has this writer been? We have already had a national debate on the meaning of "is".

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[Erasmus]

I could care less.

<]B^)

[KC Burke]

Republic, not Democracy
Leftist, not Liberal
Communist, not Progressive
Judge, not Hand down Justice
Toleration of other's faiths, not Equivalancy of all beliefs
Semi-automatic, not Assualt rifle
Two decent guns and one old one that belonged to dad, not Arms cache
Property not made inviting, not Compound
Traditional heritage, not Right wing extremist

[monkey]

I'm just afraid that it's evolving in the wrong direction -- toward ambiguity, vagueness, jargon.

As any linguist knows, language is becoming ever more abstract. Our environment is becoming more abstract, as we in cyberspace can attest.

And don't get me started about having your cake and eating it, too. You have to have your cake in order to eat it. The trick is to eat it and still have it.

He's missing the poetic quality of the expression. Imposing a timeline is a distraction. To Keats the common usage was hunky dory [Etymology: obsolete English dialect hunk (home base) + -dory (origin unknown)]

But for Manifesto purposes, the Unabomber wrote "eat your cake and have it too," (one of the clues that tipped off his presumably commonist brother).

I would call Powers a pedant, but he would take that to mean: obsolete : a male schoolteacher, and I don't think there are any male schoolteachers.

[spodefly]

BUMP

[Agnes Heep]

Less than 200 years ago the word "fellow" was a fighting word.

[Salvey]

How about the use of "impact" as a verb?

[PatrickHenry]

What if a few phrases fall between the cracks? I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday.